Aerial Photography A great way to take your passion really high

Aerial Photography A great way to take your passion really high

By Jose Lozano

I still was in college when I heard for the first time the words ìBig Pictureî my mentor who was trying to make me think beyond of my own limitations said to me ìThis part of the job that you are doing is just a tiny bit of the whole project we are managing here, do your best, think in the Big Picture. The moment I heard those words the only thing I could think about was something like an aerial photograph of a city or a park, where you can see all the parts working together and also you can tell how they interact each other.
The Big picture of something is amazing and beautiful at the same time, later in my life, as an avid fan of Remote Control Aviation toys; I took this advice with me and my F 18 Jolly Roger, attached a small camera to it and for 10 minutes I observed the beauty of the world from the sky; the view was amazing and I remember that just being able to see the pictures in the monitor while flying made me feel like I was inside the plane.

Aerial Photography

Why Aerial Photography can make your pictures greater

Iím not a professional photographer, but let me tell you this, I know when a photo is good or bad, I can tell the difference between something that I see and something that gets my attention and makes me to observe it. Aerial Photography is a fantastic way to get very nice images and also capture the greatness of a landscape or a specific place; it brings you the opportunity to see each part of what is made something in the ground.

Some ways you can do this

You can do this by renting an airplane or a helicopter, if you have the budget this is by all means the best way since you can have more time in the air, you can go to higher altitudes and get a bigger picture and you images will be awesome.

If you are limited in budget there is another way you can go and get some amazing pictures as well, and it is simply by attaching a camera to an RC Aircraft such as an RC Helicopter 3.5 Channel since they are robust Helicopters with enough power to hold a camera that could be triggered remotely when you think that the right picture is in front of your camera.
Here are some things to remember when doing an Aerial Photography session.

Safety: It is important to attach everything well to the aircraft, if you are going with the remote control then you want to make sure that your camera is properly attached and secured. If you are going with the real plane, well, make sure that you follow all safety regulations to be able to take your photographs.

Weather: In whatever case, you want to examine the weather conditions for your aerial photography day, earlier in this article I mentioned that I did this with one of my planes; the end of the story was that after those 10 minutes started to rain and I lost control of the airship, I found it later under a tree destroyed and with the camera torn apart, so I know this from experience.

Type of Airship: It is important to determine what do you want to do with your camera, if you want to do video then either airplanes or helicopters are ok, with a small camera attached your video will be great; if you want to get some good shots then maybe you want to go with a helicopter, it can bring more stability and you can vary the speed of the aircraft.

Type of camera: Depending on what do you want to do you should use one or another camera, for video making many people use small HD cameras easy to attach to the airship; in the other hand, you could attach your DSLR camera to the Gyro Helicopter and get some great shots.

Attaching the camera to an RC Helicopter: It will depend on your camera weight and size, but the best place to put a good DSLR camera in the helicopter is under the body, in order to ensure that neither your camera nor your helicopter will be damaged you should get a casing where you can place and secure your camera; once the camera is secured then you can adapt the casing to the helicopter making sure that it will not interfere with the take-off and landing of the helicopter; if it does, you can prepare a platform for taking off and landing.

Attaching the camera to an RC Airplane: This one is more difficult because there is no platform you can use, the airplane needs to take-off and land using the landing gear. The best place to install a camera in the airplane is as close as possible to the center; remember that the best fit for the airplane is video making; in this case many people with a large RC Airplane install the camera inside the plane in the cockpit; if you donít have a large plane then you can install it in the upper section of the plane close to the center; get a casing to attach it to the plane and secure there the camera.

Enjoy: The purpose of this is to take your passion for photography up ahead in the sky, so while you are doing this, remember to really enjoy the ride, set your camera to take video as well since you will get more and more images that later you can snapshot and get a great photo as well.

Ansel Adams, the famous American photographer and environmentalist once said ìYou donít take a photograph, you make itî I believe he was telling more than just editing the picture; he was speaking about the skill to know the elements that make a photo a great one. The photographer can truly make those elements to be in the picture if they are looked in the right place, and remember, the Sky is the Limit!

All the best in you Aerial Photography Session!

Jose Lozano

Jose Lozano is an Online Entrepreneur, he is also an Engineer with passion for flying objects, at the age of 10 he got his 1st RC Airplane and that changed his life; recently Jose started a blog at www.rchobbiesonair.com where he shares relevant information about these fascinating toys.

Mark is a fine art wedding and portrait photographer from Northern California. He has been passionate about photography since childhood and started his studio 12 years ago to bring a fresh style of photography to the wedding and portrait world.

1 Comment

As an industrial and professional photographer in Mumbai – India. I also come across many situations, where I have to take photographs from a height. Maybe, I will invest in a good RC helicopter and shoot some aerial shots of factories etc.

Sign up for our email newsletter

Hear about our giveaways and big announcements

Email
*

About Us

Digitalphotobuzz.com was created to fuel photographers creative flame and share photo tips and tutorials. WIth hundreds of tutorials covering a range of topics such as; Lightroom tips and tricks, Photoshop tutorials, Business and Marketing advice to grow your photography studio, Photo Lighting articles, Photography industry news, and lots of photo inspiration! We are here to help everyone grow your photographic art and to push the envelope, raising the bar of photography excellence.